


Home Sweet Home

by LadyPaigeC



Series: Tumblr Prompts [13]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Blame Me, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Introspection, That hurt, Tumblr Prompt, coming home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 16:50:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18877243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyPaigeC/pseuds/LadyPaigeC
Summary: After an emotional adventure, Rose wants to spend some time with her Mum. The Doctor comes to a startling realization.





	Home Sweet Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fleurdeneuf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleurdeneuf/gifts), [SunnieBelle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunnieBelle/gifts).



> For fleurdeneuf who prompted: coming home  
> For SunnieBelle who prompted: blame me & that hurt

“Mum!” 

Rose rushed toward Jackie and flung herself into her mother’s arms.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” She looked over Rose’s shoulder and glared at the Doctor.

“Nothin’ just missed you is all.”

Jackie glanced sharply at her daughter. “Has it been another year for you? Rose, have you been gone a year!”

The Doctor backed up a step and shook his head at the same time as Rose said, “No. No, Mum.”

“‘S only been three days, Jackie.”

“Well, then what all this about? And don’t ‘nothin’ me.”

“I…I met Dad.”

The blood drained from Jackie’s face. “You what?”

“It was me. I was the girl. The one you told me about. I held his hand while he was-” Rose broke off with a sob and buried her face in her mother’s shoulder.

Jackie for once was stunned into silence and rubbed Rose’s back. She caught sight of the Doctor backed up against the front door. He was the picture of guilt.

He met Jackie’s gaze and she could see the self-hatred and shame in his eyes. 

“This is your fault then? Takin’ her to see her dad when he-”

Rose got herself under control and sniffed back the tears not yet fallen. “No, Mum. I asked him...it was me, all my fault.”

He shook his head in denial. “Don’t be silly, Rose. I’m the Time Lord. I knew it was a bad idea-”

“Mum, can you make us a cuppa?”

Jackie eyed the both of them and before Rose could argue with her, she nodded and headed for the kitchen.

Rose walked over to the Doctor and laid her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry. I asked to go and you warned me and then I didn’t listen to you and I got both you and my dad kil-” She choked on the word and the Doctor swept her into a hug.

“Rose, it wasn’t your fault. Blame me.”

“I almost destroyed the world and you were gone and that hurt so much.” She looked up into his eyes. “I felt like...like I couldn’t breathe when I thought you were dead.”

“I know the feeling. That’s how I felt when I thought the dalek had...in Utah.”

Rose gave the Doctor a wobbly smile. “I...Doctor, I-”

“I know you’re sorry. You won’t do it again will you?”

She shook her head vehemently. “No.”

He cupped her cheek. “There. That’s settled then.” He gave her a daft grin of his own. “You okay now?”

“Yeah.” She leaned into his touch. “But that isn’t what I was gonna say.”

“No?” He dropped his hand and waited.

“No.” She took a deep breath. “I was gonna say that I...that I love you.”

He stepped back and crashed into the door. “Ah, right. Good. Well, I, erm, guess that I should just be going now.”

Her brow crinkled and she whispered, “That’s...you...you’re leaving me here?”

“Well, I just thought...you’d like some...with your mum. It’s all a bit too domestic. ‘Sides the TARDIS could use a bit of maintenance after-” He cut himself off.

“I tell you I love you and now you’re gonna abandon me?”

His eyes widened. “What? No! I’ve got maintenance to do...just while you visit with your mum. Then we’ll go somewhere relaxing...no running.”

“You’re not gonna swan off without me?”

“No! Rose, I- I wouldn’t do that to you.”

Rose released the breath she’d been holding. “Okay.” Rose chewed on her lip. “And, erm, the other…is that...okay?”

“Yeah. And Rose, I...I feel the- I do, too. I mean your dad could see it, even the bloody dalek could see it, but I can’t...the words. It feels like tempting fate...and I can’t lose...you mean...I don’t know what I’d do if-”

Rose reach out and cupped his jaw. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say it back, it’s...it’s enough to know it’s reciprocated?”

“It is.” At his nod, a bright smile broke out over her face. 

She reached up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “I’ll be home in a few hours, yeah?”

Hand resting on his cheek where her lips had just been, a wave of pleasure washed through the Doctor. _Home._ Rose thought of the TARDIS as her home. His home was her home. His lips kicked up in a mad grin. “Yeah. That’s…that sounds good.” 

\--

The Doctor walked into the TARDIS and headed for the control panel. The lights were low and a gentle hum permeated the room, but it still felt so...empty. Unthinkingly, he found himself listening for Rose’s soft breathing and her singular human heartbeat. He hadn’t realized how much life she brought to his previously lonely existence and he didn’t like the reminder. He’d seen her only moments ago, but he still found himself missing her. 

He sighed and took off his jacket, tossing the leather garment onto the jumpseat. He rolled up his sleeves and opened a hatch under the console, before sliding under it. 

He tried to focus. He really did, but the wires began blurring together and all he could she was Rose. Rose smiling teasingly at him with dancing eyes. Rose chewing on her lip and fluttering her lashes. Rose blushing as she told him she loved him. Rose Rose Rose. The third time that he crossed two wires that should never ever be crossed, the TARDIS shocked him with a cascade of sparks. 

“Oi!”

More sparks fell on him.

He pushed himself out from under the console and hugged his knee. _An’ what ‘m I supposed to do now? Rose won’t be back for ages._

The TARDIS hummed a warning. Tinkering was off limits.

The Doctor shivered with uncharacteristic cold and he pushed himself to his feet. Slipping his jacket back on, he flopped onto the jump seat and stared at the ceiling. 

He lost himself in fantasies that he’d never admit to having. 

Taking Rose to Ponjaroo and standing in the shadows of the cliffs, while promising each other ‘forever.’ 

The two of them rushing through the TARDIS doors after a narrow escape. Rose laughing and breathless at almost getting arrested again. His efforts to keep her breathless that have nothing to do with running. 

Slowly undressing her by the light of the time rotor, before shagging her up against the console. The TARDIS hummed sharply in the back of his mind. He blushed. _Fine. Not against the console._ Before taking Rose back to his _room_ and worshiping her for hours.

He imagined Rose stepping out of the TARDIS onto Barcelona (the planet not the city) and showing her the dogs with no noses. They’d walk hand in hand along the beach, before making love under the stars amongst the dunes. She’d look so beautiful, not that she didn’t always, with her hair spread out under her, a flush to her cheeks, and her chest heaving with-

The Doctor shifted in his seat at the tightening in his trousers. He reached down to adjust himself, when he heard a creak from the door opening. 

She slipped inside and the control room immediately seemed warmer and brighter, even the hum of the TARDIS changed in pitch to welcome her back. 

“Rose!”

The room crackled with life. How could one small human have such immense power over him and his ship?

Rose ran her fingers over a coral strut and gave him a crooked grin. His heart twinged. _Is she sad? Why is she sad? She should never be anything but radiant._

“Wha’s wrong?”

“Hmm?” She glanced up at him and noticed his worry. “‘S nothin’. Mum was just disappointed we weren’t staying for tea.”

“Do you want to?”

Rose dropped her gaze to the grating and shrugged. 

“Well, if I'm honest, ’m a bit peckish. What’s she makin’?”

Her eyes rounded in shock. “You...you’d sit down and eat my mum’s cooking?”

The tips of his ears reddened and he stammered, “Well, I...we don’t...I could bring you to…if you’d rather-”

Rose took his hand in hers and he snapped his jaw shut. Examining his face, she asked, “You really don’t mind?”

The hope he saw in her eyes had him shaking his head. “Nah. ‘Course not.”

She threw herself into his arms with enough momentum that it nearly knocked him to the ground, but he wrapped his arms around her and steadied them both.

Head buried in his neck, she whispered, “Thank you.”

He pulled back and his eyes zeroed in on her mouth. He swallowed and took a bracing breath. 

Rose lifted onto her toes as the Doctor leaned down to meet her lips with his. For the first time since he ended the Time War, the Doctor didn’t feel the acute loss of his people. All he felt was Rose. Her presence filled the empty space in his heart and mind. 

When they finally broke apart, he rested his forehead against hers and they stood panting. Content to simply breathe the same air.

She reached into her jacket for her mobile. “Mum, hi. Yeah, the Doctor an’ I’ll be up in a mo’ for tea.” She nodded her head to something her mother had said and bit her lip. “No, the Doctor too. Well, we can stay a little bit longer…’K. See ya in a few.”

She pocketed the phone and held out her hand to him. Their hands slid together, fingers interlocking, and they shared a smile.

He wasn't quite sure how this beautiful, brave, impetuous little ape had become his everything, but she had. And there was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep the smile on her face, including dinner with her mum.

“C’mon, you, the sooner we go, the sooner we can come back home.”

His hearts soared. She didn’t just make his home feel like a home, she was his home. 

“Alright, Rose Tyler. Lead the way.”


End file.
